U.S. patent application number 10/911903 was filed with the patent office on 2006-02-09 for supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack.
Invention is credited to Henry Chen.
Application Number | 20060027516 10/911903 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 35756389 |
Filed Date | 2006-02-09 |
United States Patent
Application |
20060027516 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Chen; Henry |
February 9, 2006 |
Supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack
Abstract
A supporting arm for stably supporting a wall-mount metal rack
includes a main body, and a hook section and a fixing plate
integrally formed at an upper and a lower end, respectively, of the
main body. Ribs are longitudinally provided at joints of the main
body and the hook section and the fixing plate to enhance a
structural strength thereat. The hook section provides a relatively
large bearing surface to cover and support an outer transverse
metal wire of the metal rack, so that the metal rack is stably
mounted on the wall surface to provide a largely increased bearing
capacity.
Inventors: |
Chen; Henry; (Taipei,
TW) |
Correspondence
Address: |
LAW OFFICE OF LIAUH & ASSOC.
4224 WAIALAE AVE
STE 5-388
HONOLULU
HI
96816
US
|
Family ID: |
35756389 |
Appl. No.: |
10/911903 |
Filed: |
August 4, 2004 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
211/183 ;
211/106; 211/90.03 |
Current CPC
Class: |
A47B 96/027
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
211/183 ;
211/090.03; 211/106 |
International
Class: |
A47F 5/00 20060101
A47F005/00 |
Claims
1. A supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack, comprising a main
body, a hook section integrally provided at an upper end of said
main body, and a fixing plate integrally provided at a lower end of
said main body; said supporting arm being made of a sheet metal
material, and said fixing plate being properly bent into a
predetermined configuration having a flat inner surface; said
supporting arm being characterized in that said hook section is a
forward opened horizontal channel, and that at least one first rib
is longitudinally provided at a joint of said hook section and the
upper end of said main body to prevent deformation or breaking at
said joint.
2. The supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack as claimed in claim
1, wherein said main body has at least one second rib
longitudinally provided at an upper part thereof.
3. The supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack as claimed in claim
2, wherein said first rib provided at said joint of said hook
section and the upper end of said main body and said second rib
provided at the upper part of said main body are staggered without
locating on the same one straight line.
4. The supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack as claimed in claim
1, wherein said hook section and said main body contain between
them an angle of 45 to 90 degrees, so that said hook section
provides a relatively large bearing surface to cover and support a
transverse metal wire located at an outer edge of a metal rack.
5. The supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack as claimed in claim
1, wherein said hook section is provided with a slit extended in a
direction normal to said horizontal channel and communicating with
an inner space of said horizontal channel.
6. The supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack as claimed in claim
1, further comprising a third rib longitudinally provided at a
joint of said main body and said fixing plate to enhance a
structural strength at said joint.
7. The supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack as claimed in claim
6, wherein said fixing plate has a sidewall extended along two
lateral edges and a lower edge of said fixing plate to increase an
overall strength of said fixing plate.
Description
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
[0001] The present invention relates to a supporting arm that has
excellent structural strength to stably support a wall-mount metal
rack, so that the metal rack has a largely increased bearing
capacity.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0002] A metal rack is frequently fixed to a wall surface for
holding things, so that valuable space in a room could be fully
utilized without the need of spending a lot of money for a
custom-made cabinet or closet. The metal rack may be covered with
curtains or drapes to define a closed storage space and serves as,
for example, a cabinet, a closet, or a wardrobe. The metal rack is
usually mounted to the wall surface by engaging an inner edge with
hangers pre-mounted on the wall surface, and bearing an outer edge
on supporting arms that are fixed at a lower end to the wall
surface, so that the metal rack has a horizontal top for holding
things.
[0003] FIGS. 1 and 1-1 shows a conventional metal rack 10 that
includes a vertically downward bent front to increase the
structural strength of the metal rack 10, preventing the metal rack
10 from easy deformation. The metal rack 10 includes a plurality of
parallelly spaced and longitudinally extended metal wires 11
forming the top of the metal rack 10, and a relatively large metal
wire 12 extended across an upper outer edge of the metal rack in
perpendicular to the metal wires 11.
[0004] The currently available supporting arm 13 for the metal rack
10 is formed at an upper end with a hook section 131 for sideward
bearing against an inner side of the metal wire 12, and at a lower
end with an angularly bent fixing plate 132 for mounting to the
wall surface. The hook section 131 and the upper end of the
supporting arm 13 generally contain between them an angle larger
than 120 degrees, so as to protect the hook section 131 against
easy deformation under pressure. Since this type of hook section
131 has relatively small bearing surface to hold the metal wire 12,
the supporting arm 13 fails to stably support the metal rack 10.
Moreover, a joint of the conventional supporting arm 13 and the
fixing plate 132 is weak and tends to bend when it is subjected to
a relatively large force.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0005] A primary object of the present invention is to provide a
supporting arm that has enhanced structural strength and is not
easily deformed, so as to reliably and stably support a wall-mount
metal rack.
[0006] To achieve the above and other objects, the supporting arm
for wall-mount metal rack according to the present invention mainly
includes a main body, a hook section integrally formed at an upper
end of the main body, and a fixing plate integrally formed at a
lower end of the main body. At least one first rib is
longitudinally formed at a joint of the main body and the hook
section to protect the joint against deformation under
pressure.
[0007] In the supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack according to
the present invention, a second rib is longitudinally provided at
an upper end of the main body to increase the structural strength
of the main body.
[0008] For the main body of the supporting arm of the present
invention to have increased strength, the main body is bent to form
two integral sidewalls.
[0009] A third rib is longitudinally provided at a joint of the
fixing plate and the main body to protect the joint against
deformation under pressure.
[0010] For the fixing plate to have increased structural strength,
the fixing plate is formed at two lateral edges and a lower edge
with an integral sidewall.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0011] The structure and the technical means adopted by the present
invention to achieve the above and other objects can be best
understood by referring to the following detailed description of
the preferred embodiments and the accompanying drawings,
wherein
[0012] FIG. 1 shows the manner of using a conventional supporting
arm for wall-mount metal rack;
[0013] FIG. 1-1 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 1;
[0014] FIG. 2 shows one manner of using a supporting arm for
wall-mount metal rack according to the present invention;
[0015] FIGS. 2-1 and 2-2 are partially enlarged views of FIG.
2;
[0016] FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the supporting arm for
wall-mount metal rack according to the present invention;
[0017] FIG. 4 is a side view of FIG. 2;
[0018] FIG. 4-1 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 4;
[0019] FIG. 5 shows another manner of using the supporting arm for
wall-mount metal rack according to the present invention; and
[0020] FIG. 5-1 is a partially enlarged view of FIG. 5.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
[0021] Please refer to FIG. 2 that shows one manner of using a
supporting arm for wall-mount metal rack according to the present
invention. As shown, the supporting arm, which is generally denoted
by a reference number 20, is mainly used to support a metal rack
10. The metal rack 10 is fixed to a wall surface 31 by engaging an
inner edge of the metal rack 10 with hooks 30 pre-mounted on the
wall surface 31, and using supporting arms 20 to support an outer
edge of the metal rack 10, such that a top of the metal rack 10 is
in a horizontal position for holding things thereon. The metal rack
10 is provided below the inner and the outer edge with a transverse
metal wire 14, 12, respectively. The metal rack 10 is engaged at
the inner edge with the hooks 30 by setting the inner transverse
metal wire 14 in the hooks 30. A plurality of relatively small
metal wires 11 are longitudinally extended and spaced between the
inner and the outer transverse metal wire 14, 12 to form the metal
rack 10.
[0022] Please refer to FIG. 3 that is a perspective view of the
supporting arm 20 of the present invention. The supporting arm 20
is integrally formed using a sheet metal material, and includes an
elongated main body 21, a hook section 22 formed at an upper end of
the main body 21, and a fixing plate 23 formed at a lower end of
the main body 21. The main body 21 includes two perpendicularly
bent sidewalls 211, which give the main body 21 an enhanced
structural strength. The hook section 22 is properly bent into a
predetermined configuration having a forward opened horizontal
channel 221. The fixing plate 23 is also properly bent into a
predetermined configuration having a flat inner surface.
[0023] At least one first rib 24 is longitudinally formed at a
joint of the hook section 22 and the upper end of the main body 21
to produce a supporting effect on the hook section 22, and thereby
enhances a bearing capacity of the hook section 22 and prevents any
deformation or even breaking at the joint of the hook section 22
and the upper end of the main body 21. However, after the at least
one first rib 24 is provided at the joint of the hook section 22
and the main body 21, a point on the main body 21 immediately
behind the joint has a relatively low strength and tends to deform
when a force is applied thereto. Therefore, at least one second rib
25 is longitudinally provided at the point of the main body 21
behind the first rib 24. It is noted the first and the second rib
24, 25 should be staggered to avoid locating on the same one
straight line.
[0024] Please refer to FIGS. 4 and 4-1. With the first and the
second rib 24, 25, the joint of the hook section 22 and the main
body 21 has an excellent structural strength, protecting the hook
section 22 against deformation or breaking even when the hook
section 22 is subjected to a relatively large pressure. As a
result, it is possible for the hook section 22 and the main body 21
to contain between them an angle as small as 45 to 90 degrees, that
is, an angle obtained by deducting a bending angle of the hook
section 22 from 180 degrees. The hook section 22 at this angular
position provides a relatively large bearing surface to cover and
stably support the outer metal wire 12.
[0025] Since the main body 21 of the supporting arm 20 has two
perpendicularly bent sidewalls 211, a joint of the main body 21 and
the fixing plate 23 has a U-shaped cross section. A third rib 26 is
longitudinally provided at the U-shaped joint of the main body 21
and the fixing plate 23 to increase a strength thereof, so that the
U-shaped joint could bear an increased pressure without becoming
deformed or broken. As can be seen from FIGS. 3 and 2-2, the fixing
plate 23 is provided with a through hole 231, via which a fastening
element 232 is extended into the wall surface 31. The through hole
231 inevitably forms a weak point on the fixing plate 23. To avoid
the weak point at the through hole 231 from deforming or breaking,
a sidewall 233 is extended along two lateral edges and a lower edge
of the fixing plate 23 to enhance an overall strength thereof.
[0026] Please refer to FIGS. 3 and 2-1. The hook section 22 of the
supporting arm 20 is provided with a slit 222 extended in a
direction normal to the horizontal channel 221 to communicate with
an internal space of the channel 221. The slit 222 has a width
similar to an outer diameter of the longitudinal metal wire 11 on
the top of the metal rack 10. When the hook section 22 covers the
outer transverse metal wire 12, the metal wire 12 is located in the
horizontal channel 221 and the slit 222 is aligned and engaged with
one metal wire 11, so that the hook section 22 is prevented from
moving laterally relative to the metal rack 10. In this manner, the
supporting arm 20 could more stably support the metal rack 10.
[0027] In manufacturing the supporting arm 20, it is also possible
for the hook section 22 to have an overall width slightly smaller
than a space between two adjacent longitudinal metal wires 11
forming the top of the metal rack 10, so that the hook section 22
could be located between two adjacent metal wires 11 with the
transverse metal wire 12 seated in the horizontal channel 221, as
shown in FIGS. 5 and 5-1.
[0028] In either case, since the horizontal channel 221 of the hook
section 22 provides a relatively large bearing surface to cover the
metal wire 12, the supporting arm 20 could always stably support
the metal rack 10.
[0029] Since the supporting arm 20 of the present invention is
formed by properly bending a sheet metal material into a
predetermined configuration, it has a structural strength
sufficient to bear a relatively large pressure, making the metal
rack 10 safe for use and trusted by consumers.
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